September 1999
Flying
byGeorgeDenniston
We flew some tour-ists from Lousiana
who had never been to Northwestern
Montanabefore. Kalispell, our homeport,
is located in the Flathead Valley about 30
miles from Glacier National Park and
offers awesome scenery and some very
dependablewinds forballooning.The day
dawned mostly clear with extremely light
winds blowing in the usual direction for
morning flights—from the Northwest. As
we lifted off, it was fun to listen to the
passengers’ comments since both of them
had admitted to being somewhat uncom-
fortable with heights. They, of course,
found out that their fears were unfounded.
The smiles said it all... We climbed to
5,000feetMSL (2000AGL) and
got some great views and a little steerage.
Itwasaveryslowflightbutfuelcon-
sumption was good and we covered a fair
amountofground.Aswepreparedfor
landingwedriftedoverapondwhich
affordedthepassengerstheopportunity
tosee the reflection of our balloon in the
water. Nice. Our passenger andhiswife
have been dairyfarmersfor manyyears.
At the end of the ride, where did we land?
A dairy farm! That wasthe first landing.
It was on a hillside with cow manure “land
mines”locatedstrategicallyaroundthe
intended deflation zone. Oh well, back up
againto search for a more suitable spot.
Atthispointwebeginheadingfor
red-zonedmintfieldsandanotherlarge
pond.Bythistime,ofcourse,thewind
begins to slowdown while we are overthe
pond. Not to worry—we still have most of
one tank left. I askthe passengers if they
rememberedtobringtheirhipwaders
along!
Iseeafieldthatlookslikeitwas
recently planted but which is more“estab-
lished”thantheone nexttoit.Idecide
that, inlightof myremainingfuel, I will
put downnear the roadandhope for the
best. Itis at this time thatthecrew chief
informs me that she spoke with the land-
owner who has given explicit instructions
NOTtolandthere.Thereisayoung,
activelygrowingcropinthefield.We
knowthe guy (his wife has crewed for us).
I lookatthefuelgaugeandthenatthe
seeminglyendlessstretchofthissame
field and decide that I am better off to land
now than to wind up farther into the crops
whereI would need to drive out to retrieve
theequipment.I’lldealwiththeland-
a soft stand-up landing. We deflate, pack
up, & carry everything to the truck, so as
not to disturbthe field. There isno dam-
agedone butIdrivetothelandowner’s
farmandexplainthesituationanyway.
He declines my invitation to come with us
outtothe“scene ofthe crime”but asks
thatwepleasetrytoavoidhisnewly
plantedfieldsinthe future.Weare still
friends!Backtothe launchfieldfor our
post-flight toast. Thepassengers have had
the time of their lives.
Everyone ishappy——thatis, until
thelast persongetsout ofthetruck.His
elbowbumpsthepowerdoorlockjust
beforehe closesthedoor!Allwindows
are closedand of course the keys are still
inthe ignition. The cell phone is inthere
too…
Fortunately,thepassengerhadthe
keystohispickupinhispocketandof-
feredtoletme take ittothenearestgas
stationsoI could call a locksmith. When
I got back, we all just sat around visiting,
gettingtoknoweachotherbetter,and
enjoying themorning sunshine. What else
canyou dobut laugh about it andgo on?
The locksmitharrivedabout30minutes
later. She brought out a box ofwhat looked
like modified coat hangers. Within about
5 minutesshe hadoneof these threaded
through thewing window where shecould
reach and depress the power lock button.
At lastwe were able tobreathe a sigh of
relief—ANDgetourcreditcardoutfor
herofcourse! Irealizedher $45.00fee
would knock the profit out of the morning
butitneverdampenedanyone’sspirit!
We got aspare key made thisafternoon.
Now—where to hide thisthing?
niston is presented to enhance safe flyin g
by providing balloonists the oppo rtunity
to gain experience from others without
actually flying. The column is edited b y
George Denniston who is a d octor and
balloonist living in Seattle, Washington.
Articles may be signed or anonymous to
protect the privacy of those involv ed, as
the author wishes. If you have an experi-
ence th at you would like to share with
others, send your manuscript to Balloo n
Life magazine, Hangar Fly ing wi th
George Denniston, 2336 47th Ave SW,
Seattle, WA 98116-2 331. Submissions
may be typewritten, submitted on disk
(Mac or IBM format), or e-mailed to
tom@balloonlife.com. Balloon Life pays
$35 for each story used.
